There’s no slowing down Durango’s Asa Vermette.
Whether it’s on downhill mountain bike tracks around the world or in the offseason, Vermette is always on the move and stoked to be doing so.
The 18-year-old downhill phenom made his UCI Mountain Bike World Cup debut last season and didn’t disappoint, winning three men’s junior World Cup races and finishing third in the World Cup standings.
Arguably the biggest highlight of Vermette’s 2024 season was winning the Junior Men’s Downhill World Championship in Pal Arinsal, Andorra, in August.
Now, after an offseason with new sponsorship deals, traveling across the world and training in a wind tunnel, Vermette is ready to compete for more wins and potentially the World Cup title.
“I learned a lot last year, learned from all my mistakes, which I'll bring into this year,” Vermette said. “I was excited; it was my first year in World Cups with all those tracks and stuff. I was just pushing myself too hard. So this year, I’m going to treat it like every normal race I've ever been to, pretty much. The biggest thing I learned is that I have plenty of speed without pushing too crazy. I don't have to push myself to my limit.”
Crashes were the only thing that stopped Vermette from winning or being on the podium during the men’s junior World Cup season.
The first costly one came in early June in Leogang, Austria, during the third round of the World Cup when he slipped out on a root section and crashed. Vermette finished 21st. The big one came in Loudenvielle, France, during the sixth round of the World Cup in early September. Vermette had a nasty-looking crash on a fast, banked turn and suffered a compression fracture in his T6 vertebrae. Vermette finished 22nd and missed the final round of the World Cup due to the injury.
Vermette has been working in the offseason to make sure he’s stronger to avoid injuries. He has a trainer he works with to put some more “padding for crashing” on his body. Vermette knows he has the physical fitness needed to handle going down World Cup tracks. He’s been strengthening his shoulders, hips, back, core and doing a lot of squats to minimize injuries.
There were plenty of highlights for Vermette in the offseason, but the biggest might have been his sponsorship with Red Bull. He’d talked with Red Bull for over a year before all his impressive victories in 2024 convinced Red Bull. The energy drink company surprised him with a helmet in October at Red Bull Rampage to officially begin the relationship.
“It's every kid's dream, definitely my biggest dream as a kid, seeing all the Red Bull dudes wearing helmets; I just wanted to be like them,” Vermette said. “So now having it is pretty surreal. I'm so stoked.”
Vermette said he’s excited to use Red Bull’s Athlete Performance Center in Santa Monica, California. It’s a great place to get tests done or for injury recovery, according to Vermette. Unfortunately, he didn’t get out to see it this offseason because of the forest fires in California.
Red Bull also hosted the Red Bull Hardline in Tasmania in February, which Vermette competed in for the first time, finishing second against some top competition.
Vermette described Red Bull Hardline as “the gnarliest downhill race” with 90-foot jumps, gnarly rock gardens and 80-foot drops to look like something out of a video game.
Since Red Bull Hardline, Vermette has mostly been home in Durango, relaxing with friends and family, and doing some dirt biking and skiing to make sure he doesn’t get burned out anytime soon.
However, Vermette has competed in a few races, winning at Rock Creek in North Carolina and at Sea Otter in California.
While Vermette was in North Carolina for Rock Creek, he spent some time in a wind tunnel used for NASCAR. Vermette said the wind tunnel time wasn’t for the bike but for the gear he wears. Vermette and his team tested the effect his kit, different number plates and even a GoPro can have on Vermette’s aerodynamics.
At only 18 years old, Vermette knows that shaving a tenth or two off his runs can be a huge difference.
Vermette is heading into another World Cup season with Frameworks Racing 5DEV. The team is run by Neko Mulally, someone who has known Vermette for a few years and has a lot of experience on the world stage in downhill. Mulally advised Vermette to get more into training while still having fun.
After riding with Frameworks last season, Vermette’s bike hasn’t changed too much, although he’s running an air shock now, unlike the coil shock he had last year. The change happened because Vermette is getting heavier and the coil shock isn’t progressive enough when he bottoms out on a run. Vermette said the bike is perfect and he’s stoked to ride it this year.
The men’s junior downhill World Cup season begins on May 16 in Poland. Vermette’s biggest competition will be France’s Max Alran, who won the World Cup title last year. He’s also has his eye on Felix Griffiths from Great Britain and Tyler Waite from New Zealand as potential threats.
“I've learned a lot since last year and I can tell myself in my riding that I’m a lot more confident and a lot faster,” Vermette said. “Just from (Red Bull) Hard Line, I could tell even that run wasn't like the best I could possibly do and I could have won that race that day. So just thinking about that, I'm pretty confident that I'll do good.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
